Well, Monday (7th January) marked the 20th anniversary of the UN resolution that led to Transnistria firmly becoming an integral part of the then new Republic of Moldova - albeit as the Transnistrian Autonomous Region (TAR). But at least it's not separatist as it wanted to be back then. Sure, Moldova's still quite buggered because of TAR, not being able to reunite with the rest of Romania or join the EU due to the some continuing disputes over Transnistria's and Gagauzia's rights and status within the republic. A globetrotting friend of mine had recently visited Tiraspol, the capital of TAR, and though he confirmed that there's still a lot of bitter discontent (and even underground extremist groups) towards the Moldovans among the local Russian populace (mainly due to the fallout from the '92 war), he also said that the relations have largely thawed during the past 15 years and that the local economy is getting better.
It's too bad that the current Putin administration is trying to queitly reignite the anti-Moldovan discord in the TAR to Russia's advantage. It's like deja vu - I'm getting nasty flashbacks to Serbia and the Republic of the Serbian Krajina, it's patsy. And that makes me a bit worried about the TAR's and Moldova's future... But enough about that.
I think we could still consider ourselves lucky that here in OTL, Transnistria didn't go separatist like it tried to in the early 90s. Thank God for Yeltsin's odd move of procrastination and eventual decision to pull all Russian troops from Transnistrian territory. Sure, the move was not much of a game changer in terms of his own political career, but for the sake of Moldova and its survival, I think it was absolutely paramount. And that brings me to our POD : What if, after the '92 war, Transnistria really went separatist from the official Moldovan government, with outside help from the Russians ? What if there was still a significant Russian military presence in Transnistria or at least a Russian-backed army of the separatists ? What would the government, borders and social situation in a separatist Transnistria be like ? And what would its flag look like ?
(If you're not familiar with the current one, here it is (in use since 1994, approved by both the UN and the Moldovan Republic):
It's too bad that the current Putin administration is trying to queitly reignite the anti-Moldovan discord in the TAR to Russia's advantage. It's like deja vu - I'm getting nasty flashbacks to Serbia and the Republic of the Serbian Krajina, it's patsy. And that makes me a bit worried about the TAR's and Moldova's future... But enough about that.
I think we could still consider ourselves lucky that here in OTL, Transnistria didn't go separatist like it tried to in the early 90s. Thank God for Yeltsin's odd move of procrastination and eventual decision to pull all Russian troops from Transnistrian territory. Sure, the move was not much of a game changer in terms of his own political career, but for the sake of Moldova and its survival, I think it was absolutely paramount. And that brings me to our POD : What if, after the '92 war, Transnistria really went separatist from the official Moldovan government, with outside help from the Russians ? What if there was still a significant Russian military presence in Transnistria or at least a Russian-backed army of the separatists ? What would the government, borders and social situation in a separatist Transnistria be like ? And what would its flag look like ?
(If you're not familiar with the current one, here it is (in use since 1994, approved by both the UN and the Moldovan Republic):